By Chinelo Obogo, Lagos
The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will on February 9 commence statewide new membership registration and validation of old members.
In a stakeholders meeting held on Monday, February 1, at the state secretariat of the party in Ikeja, Caretaker Committee Chairman Tunde Balogun, who announced the date, promised that the exercise would be seamless, transparent and all-inclusive.
He said it became necessary for the state chapter to hold a stakeholders’ meeting, in which the committee in charge of membership registration led by Dr Bashir Mohammed was present, so that everyone would be assured that the process would be very transparent. He then urged party leaders to go to their wards and sensitise their people on the need to join the movement.
‘We would ensure that we have seamless registration of new members and the validation of old party members. This is necessary because of some of the controversies that had happened in the past. We promise that everyone would be carried along and no one who is interested would be left out.
‘We want to show that the APC is the most formidable party on the continent and we would show it by our numbers. Already, many members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties have indicated interest to join us. Our doors are open to those who want to be part of the winning team. All they need to do is to go to their various wards and register there and get their membership cards,’ Balogun said.
Also speaking, Mohammed, reaffirmed Balogun’s statement, adding that the APC takes Lagos State very seriously and it has no reason to fail because of the role the state played in the merger of the party. He said the root of the party is in Lagos and that if anything happens to the party in Lagos, the rest of the states would be affected.
He said that the interest of the party would always come first above the personal views of any member. He then went further to state that his team which is made up of seven members would ensure that everyone who is genuinely interested in joining the party is welcomed and given a membership card, while old members would be revalidated.
‘This assignment is a national one which is very important to our party and our promise is to ensure that the entire process is done fairly and transparently. We have no reason to fail in Lagos because this state was one of the forerunners of the merger of our party. While the registration of new members is going on, there would be no exclusion and everyone would be carried along. But I want everyone who is given any responsibility to carry it out well and also leaders need to sensitize people in their wards on the need to turn out for the exercise,’ Mohammed said.
The national leadership of the party in its New Year message to Nigerians, issued by John Akpanudoedehe, Secretary of its Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), got the approval for the party membership registration beginning from January 25.
He said the party has recognised the need for continued conflict resolution and have decided to vigorously pursue reconciliation on all fronts in order to emerge as a stronger, ahead of the congresses at all levels which would culminate in the party’s national convention and the 2023 general elections.